Last week, I went out of town to attend the wedding of a good friend I hadn't seen in a few years. At the wedding banquet, I saw the news of the film's release: urban civilians, planned economy, dormitory compound, gray factory building, green interior walls, one by one Familiar scenes appeared in my mind with the words, so I went straight to the theater to brush after I got off the plane on Sunday's return trip. The film is very long, nearly three hours, but I didn't feel long-winded after watching it, just like we spent that time with Yaojun Liyun and his wife, just like we sat beside them and listened to them quietly. The story of the past.
I have never been in touch with director Wang Xiaoshuai's work before, and I have no solid understanding of his views and work style. Because I don't pay much attention to entertainment news on weekdays, and naturally I haven't watched the trailer of this film in advance, when I walked into the theater, all my feelings about this film were blank. Perhaps this "clean" state allows me to focus more on the story without having to compare the creative team's usual style. (I made it up today. I have to say that the trailer of this film seems to have a big problem. The spoiler in the final version is a bit too much, and another fragment of Liyun reading the letter should be cut into the movie)
In the process of watching the movie, the most impressive is the atmosphere created by the color contrast of the two pictures is very elegant. One is that on the last New Year's Eve before Yaojun and his wife left Baotou, Jasmine went to the master's house to deliver dumplings. Yaojun and Liyun, dressed in shabby clothes, sat blankly against the wall in the room with the cold blue light of fluorescent lamps, while Jasmine, dressed in red, sat on the main seat of the room like a queen and talked bro. How did my sister-in-law seize the opportunity to become a trendsetter of the times. Yaojun's home is bleak, and the only bright spot comes from Jasmine. Although the plot has not given more explanations, the audience can strongly feel that the lives of Yaojun and Liyun are out of touch with their peers and the times.
The other is the Layoff Conference, which is said to have cut scenes of workers’ protests. The lights on the rostrum where the leaders sat on the stage were brilliant and energetic. Although it seems that we can't directly see the reaction of the workers after cutting out the conflict plot, the contrast between the cold and the warm here has made the director's attitude clear.
The most visually striking shot of the film, Angelica, shows Yaojun running twice to the hospital with his close relatives. The first step was so strong and fast; the second one was so heavy and staggering. More than ten years have passed, Liyun is old, so old that he is almost unable to suppress life with his life; Yaojun is also old, so old that he is almost unable to use his life to save life. So when I saw Liyun holding Yaojun's hand on the plane, I also felt relieved when I sat in front of the big screen.
(The following contains spoilers, please do not read if you haven't watched the movie)
The non-linear narrative used throughout the film is both characteristic and flawed. In the nearly three-hour long performance, the use of flashbacks and interludes made the bland development avoid the risk of becoming a running account, and played a role in setting suspense in some key plots. In particular, Shen Yingming, who was not revealed until the end of the film, approached Yaojun and his wife shortly after Liu Xing's accident, and proposed a compensation plan that "everything is worth your life", but Yaojun rejected the interlude. This is very important for re-acquainting the attitude of Shen Yingming and his wife on this matter. Before that, the audience only saw Shen Yingming, who seemed to be blindly evading, but he took the initiative to apologize and Yaojun's forgiveness for the child, which directly reversed the emotional cognition formed by the audience in the first half and enhanced the narrative. impact force.
But the repeated use of flashbacks and interludes also inevitably creates a sense of fragmentation in the narrative, sometimes episodic, sometimes emotional. The film's failure in this regard is mainly reflected in the emotional fragmentation caused by the extensive use of flashbacks + interludes. The focus of the whole film's narrative is from the beginning to the end of Liu Xing's accident + the situation of Yaojun and his wife in the factory + the life after coming to Fujian, because many of the film rely on actions and no words to express emotions The long shot of the last scene has just been brewing, the next scene has returned to a point in the past with a completely different emotional atmosphere, and then the next scene may return to the beginning reality, switching over and over again The emotional tone leads to the lack of fullness and fullness of the emotional activities of the characters at that time. It often requires the audience to mobilize their empathy ability to integrate into the inner world of the characters to figure out the motives of the characters. This arrangement may help the director to face the story. Countless emotional conflicts, large and small, can still maintain a tone of restraint, but for audiences who do not understand the background of the times, social concepts and low empathy ability, it is actually a sublime improvement of their views. Shadow threshold.
It is worth mentioning that the roles of the two supporting actors, Shen Yingming, Li Haiyan and his wife, are well established. Although there are not many shots and lines, and there is little coherence, they are the finishing touches. The two of them were able to become famous in the tide of the times, which is also evident in their performance towards Yaojun and his wife. To use the current word to describe them, they are "exquisite egoists". Li Haiyan was not only regarded as a knife by the system, but she herself took the initiative to meet the needs of the system and transformed herself into a knife. Her panic after Liu Xing's accident and her repentance in her later years were not so much guilt for Yaojun and his wife, but more at a loss and worry about herself and her family being involved in it. As for Shen Yingming, the sentence "I can't find anything to say" is not unpleasant, but it was when he came to apologize with a knife and asked Yaojun and his wife to kill Haohao, "a life worth a life" indirectly forced the honest book The divided Yaojun and Liyun made a choice of forgiveness, which is not cruel. The old drama bone Xu Cheng played Shen Yingming very well, especially at the banquet after Haiyan's memorial service, when the old man proposed to let Yingming, a real estate developer, set up a house for Yaojun who returned to his roots, his face The unnatural twitch that was fleeting in the last moment clearly confirmed his heart that was always making small calculations all the time. Combined with the emotional "It's so good" that Shen Yingming said when Meiyu released "A Friendship Is Everlasting" in the dormitory 30 years ago, it's amazing.
As a father who also worked as an educated youth, was born in the early 1990s, and is now a dual-employee child of a state-owned enterprise whose work is essentially a worker, many scenes and plots in the film can be said to have been immersed in them even if they have not personally experienced them. It seems to have a very homely nostalgia. Many elements of this story, perhaps not only on screen, but also partly in my childhood.
Regarding family planning, what impressed me the most was the son and daughter of my grandparents and my colleagues. Originally, the old people on both sides did not ask them to have another child, but who knew that the young couple had their own ideas and insisted on having an extra birth, which not only deceived the unit, but also deceived their parents. As a result, it took five months for the parents to find out, but it was no longer possible to have an abortion. The elderly on both sides thought that the induced labor would be too harmful to the body and might cause sequelae, so they quietly sent the daughter-in-law back to her hometown to hide for a few months, and the child was born and sat down. Just came back after the end of the month. After the unit learned of the situation, it goes without saying that the two were fired directly. Later, the man had a lot of relationships under the activities of the elderly at home before returning to work. The woman, because it was a collective factory, had poor performance and was never able to go back to work, so she had to do odd jobs to supplement her family.
Regarding layoffs, the film deleted the scene where the leader said in the mobilization speech that the advanced should take the lead, after which there were workers in the audience booing and saying, "Then you get off first", and then the scene where the workers and the factory had physical conflicts, I feel quite a pity. Although I can understand the difficulties in order to go to the domestic cinema, the scene of the workers booing is indeed quite the feeling of the past. Interested children's shoes can learn about the different reactions and final experiences of the laid-off workers in the Shijiazhuang Cotton Factory No. 5 and Cotton No. 7 where I lived in the 1990s.
Regarding the impact of reforming the big era on small families, this film uses the profile method of "listening to thunder in a silent place and seeing flowers in a colorless place". In addition to the symbolic elements such as "The Man from the Bottom of the Atlantic", "The Adventure of the Bus", tape recorders, flared pants, black lamp dance, and crackdown, the bigger change comes from the comparison of the situation between the Yaojun couple and other old friends . After 2010, the three families reunited again, and the Yingming couple became a big real estate developer. The new couple went to sea for many years and made some achievements. Only the Yaojun couple survived with a small mechanical repair workshop. This is that era, it is this era, it is that era spinning at high speed, rushing and roaring into this era, it is an era when time is money and efficiency is life, it is an era when materialistic desires and beliefs collapse, it is the "Deng Xiaoping Era", yes The era of reform and opening up. Some people went straight up, others fell rapidly. There is no standing still in this era, if it does not rise, it falls. In the film, Yaojun and his wife did not give up because of Liu Xing's death, they did not go backwards, they just couldn't move forward and couldn't keep up with this fast-paced era. Because of their own starting point, ability, character and experience, they have been slowly moving forward along the inherent way of life for 30 years. However, this society has been speeding up unknowingly, and Xinjian Meiyu's journey is as colorful as their dance steps. , Yingming Haiyan's entrepreneurship is as accurate as their calculations. The great change in other people's situation and the rise in status also meant that the honest and slow Yaojun couple were gradually thrown away. And take a step back and assume that even if Liu Xing did not have an accident, with the ability of Yaojun and his wife, or the ability of most ordinary working class in the 1980s, the only hope to keep up with the times is children. This is why after Liu Xing's accident The hearts of the couple died. However, we can also speculate that as the old saying goes, "three years old is good, seven years old is old". Judging from Liu Xing's cowardly and blind obedience that day at the reservoir, if he wants to keep up with this era when he grows up, he may also It takes more hard work and effort than others.
Over the past 30 years, the unique trajectory of the times has played an empty valley-like opportunity: 77-97 college entrance examination (specially referring to the all-out allocation stage), 80-00 going to the sea (in a broad sense, including squatting, starting a business, going abroad, etc.), 90-15 assets (such as real estate/securities), and 95-to-date technologies (such as the Internet), ordinary people can achieve no less than the average level if they really grasp one of them, and they can improve their own and even their family level by grasping them twice. These people are the beneficiaries of the reform, and they are the "part of the people" who "get rich first". At the time of the 40th anniversary of the opening, a large number of commemorative works appeared on the silver screen. However, it seems that the shadow of this "part of people" cannot be escaped. However, more people, who are outside of this "part of people" and who are looking forward to the next opportunity to "get rich", seem to be forgotten again in the shadow of their brilliant achievements. In the turbulent torrent of marketization, the voices of urban middle- and lower-class workers and farmers who are working and farming have become smaller and smaller. Fortunately, the film's attention to Yaojun and Liyun's couple is a double concern in the sense of human nature and society, tradition and modernity. Since "The Piano of Steel", there has been no work on the screen that deeply reflects the life of the middle- and lower-class workers in domestic cities. The work "Long Time" is also very valuable in terms of the selected attention objects. These groups who are losing their right to speak are gradually becoming the key to traversing the deep waters of reform. As Mr. Vogel pointed out at the end of "The Age of Deng Xiaoping": "In the global economic crisis, China faces the risk that the economy will fall into a recession before a large number of people have had the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of earlier periods of economic growth."
The departure of Yaojun and his wife was the result of a combination of factors. In the familiar city of Baotou, they began to feel unfamiliar gradually. Life became unfamiliar because of the loss of Liu Xing, interpersonal relationships became unfamiliar because of Haohao's fault, and work became unfamiliar because of Liyun's layoff. The most terrifying thing is not the strangeness, but the familiar becomes the strangeness, because this means that only you become the strangeness. This was difficult for Yaojun's generation, who was born in a new society and grew up under the red flag to receive re-education from the poor and lower-middle peasants, holding the iron rice bowl of the planned economy. In the factory family courtyard in the film, I have lived in it for more than 20 years, and I have heard and heard from my parents for more than 20 years. When things go badly, I can’t keep up with the average level of family life. There are too many people who take the initiative to move out. . In a factory, there are too many students assigned to the third class, the educated youth who returned to the city, the children of the factory, the students who failed the college entrance examination, and the vocational secondary school. Many people have been together since their teens and twenties, smoking, drinking, and fighting together; falling in love, getting married, and having children together; being laid off together, investing in stocks, and setting up stalls; Is this fate a kind of happiness? Maybe when they were young and frivolous, they would feel happy, singing and drinking. But as the years go by, the gap between people will become more and more intense with the fermentation of ability and circumstance. At that time, this fate will only be a burden and become a pressure. What's more, Yaojun and his wife, in addition to such a gap, have to bear the pain of bereavement caused by the unintentional misdeeds of the son of a friend. This pressure turned into fire, swallowing Yaojun's soul and burning Liyun's heart. They need to escape, they can only escape, they delusionally escape to cool down and quench their thirst, but they don't know that the fire has already been buried in their hearts. Even if you go to a place where no one knows the dialect, it is like a foreign country, and you escape the familiar scenery and familiar people, but you will not be able to escape the torment of memory. Liu Xing's accident Yaojun can choose to forgive, Liyun can choose to escape, but no one can choose to forget. As an adult, Haohao once said that this matter grows in the body like a tree. For Yaojun and Liyun, and even for the Haiyan family, this is not a tree, but a thorn. Yaojun's choice was to forcibly wrap up the thorn and integrate with his internal organs. Haohao's choice was to pull out the thorn to heal the wound. However, the scar caused by the thorn will remain in the hearts of each party forever. The reservoir accident left them with a lifetime of pain. Longitudinal line sang in "Return", "Whoever has scars does not need to cover them, and they are not afraid of passing through.
For this kind of pain, what about choosing to forgive, and what about choosing to hold grudges? In those days, too many people were still struggling with food and clothing. Eating commercial food was the biggest dream of many people. Countless family members squeezed their heads to convert from agriculture to non-farm. If you lose your iron rice bowl, you will lose everything. In this reality, if you want to live The only way to go down is to choose to forgive and pretend to forget, because there are no rules of the game to ensure that your memory protects your hatred. More importantly, in addition to hatred, everyone has more important things to do, that is to live. This is the misfortune of a family and the misfortune of an era. What is powerful is not only critique, but also presentation. What is commendable about this film is that, through a tragedy, it presents us almost completely the helplessness and perseverance of the lower-class people who were almost aphasia in the next three decades when they were engulfed by the tide.
Thirty years ago, director Zhang Yimou used a film "Alive" to tell everyone about the struggles of the lower classes in the first 30 years. Thirty years later, Wang Xiaoshuai used a film "Long Time" to reveal the hardships of the lower classes in the next 30 years. . The news always talks about "telling Chinese stories well, showing a real, three-dimensional and comprehensive China, and improving the country's cultural soft power". If I were to tell me which movie this year could "tell Chinese stories well", I would definitely say yes This "Long Time".
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